Songs for Ulquiorra and Orihime
by randomfan17
Summary: Just a series of one shots, each based on a song playing out for Ulquihime. From love to obsession, all will be written here. AU and canon throughout.
1. Tiny Heart

An: Spoilers if you don't already know what happens to our favorite Espada. Don't own Bleach, otherwise Ulquiorra would be on a beach working on a tan.

**Tiny Heart**

Ulquiorra watched her constantly from the corner of his eye, around corners, and openly when they were both in the same room because it was his responsibility to do so. It had irritated him at first that she clutched to the idea of a heart that he could not see. He couldn't touch her and feel it, he certainly couldn't see it, it was just an idea that she held onto tightly because she had nothing else to hold onto. So he began watching her, only when they were together at first, but as it continued to bother him he followed her closely as she wandered the halls like a vivid ghost.

She never smiled. He hadn't seen her smile but the one time that he followed her in Soul Society as he planned on kidnapping her. She grew paler in captivity and life seeped from her as the days passed and no sign of her rescuers appeared. He thought that she would give up the idea seeing that the ones she entrusted with something she thought so precious never appeared. Until she looked back at him watching her, and that first stirring of feeling appeared. So startled was he that he fled as slowly as he could without appearing to do so.

He didn't know when he first recognized jealousy over the fact she thought of Kurosaki as her knight. When he grew restless and went to her room one night to find her murmuring his name in her sleep, or the day they arrived and her color returned in full force. The happiness that exuded from her as her friends grew closer or the sadness that would follow because they came, both confused him to no end and she went back to staring out her window like a caged nightingale. He tried breaking her again by saying it was inevitable that they would die trying to rescue her, but it didn't. And again she recited her belief in the heart, and again it escaped his sight.

She looked back at him once again, and his anger at her penetrating gaze seeing more of him than he saw of here turned to threats against her behavior as she stopped eating and taking care of herself in her worry. She did as he said silently after a while and guilt itched at him until he brushed it off and stopped himself from looking at her, trying to find her heart.

Days continued to pass and her worry made her reach her reiatsu toward her friends to comfort them at least that she was still there for them. He crushed it before it got far, surrounded her room in his presence and never let any of hers leak out. Hers brushed against his gently as she was trying to recognize it and drew back slowly when she realized her attempts were being thwarted. His reaction at first had been involuntary, his own followed hers before he jerked it back in surprise at his reaction. And in that moment he felt Kurosaki approaching much too close to her room for his orders to allow.

His encounter with Kurosaki gave him no insight to the heart at all, even as his hand plunged into his chest and felt the beat against his fingers. He watched for a second carelessly as Kurosaki fell trying to see if the heart she talked of would appear, when it didn't and all Kurosaki's reiatsu disappeared he left to see her reaction to his. That Kurosaki's blood was on his hand mattered little, he would see her heart break as its focus died. Its appearance should be assured at such a crucial impact on it.

When he reached her room and found her gone he didn't panic. Her aura was still strong but coming from every direction, like sunshine radiating everywhere in a clearing. So he focused on Grimmjow instead and finally panicked just a little, he had taken her to the one thing he wanted gone permanently from her life. She would bring Kurosaki back just on the strength of her heart because he knew her will was tied to it.

In seconds he was back at the scene of his battle and stood behind Grimmjow who reacted violently to his presence. All that nonsense coming from him about stealing prey, it didn't cover his right to protect the woman, and basically handing her to the enemy to heal was not protecting her on Aizen-sama's requirements. Damn that fool Grimmjow, trapping him in the Caja Negacion after he strictly ordered the idiot to hand over his charge. So focusing his power on escaping, he waited, until the moment he would crush his enemy again and take back his charge. Than see if her heart was still intact after watching him die fully.

He wasn't sure if he was glad that she was alone when he reemerged from the Caja Negacion. The fear in her eyes was however he found unwanted, he didn't want her to fear him, just admit her heart was not real because he couldn't see it. That it might feel as if she was broken but no heart was the source of it. All his questions to her had been for his benefit, believing that if made her admit that she didn't have one he couldn't find than it was not possible. That nonsense about her heart being with her friends was irritating but he figured it was wrong anyway, he would have seen such heart when he had plunged into Kurosaki's chest. Than just as he felt Kurosaki approaching it looked as if she was going to say something else to him but Kurosaki interrupted.

The battle was long almost pathetically easy, staging it so she would see was the harder part. Watching her break but no appearance of said heart as he decimated Kurosaki's chest was all he needed to confirm it couldn't be real. If after all that pain and no heart appeared to connect her to him than it didn't exist. Her screams for him as she ran toward his body confused him, she should realize he was dead, there was no way for him to come back now. The desperation on her face for Kurosaki to be alive was irritating at the least, she should just give up by now.

Then he felt the pressure behind him as he rise as Kurosaki stood up again, it was unbelievable, he made sure he was dead before he tossed him over the pillar. Orihime looked even more fearful of the person she called friend even as he started demolishing Ulquiorra and doing things he thought impossible for the substitute Shinigami. He truly thought he was going to die when Kurosaki blew away the bottom of his body and held up his sword to stab his head. He almost wanted to thank the Quincy for stepping in and giving him time to take up the last of his power for one more blow. And as the hollow in Kurosaki's skin started creating another cero, one that threatened everyone on the roof, including her. He made it in time to deflect it away from her and harm no one else except himself as he felt his healing slow instead of fast as his power left him.

He taunted Kurosaki, but his sense of honor wouldn't put me out of my misery when I couldn't lift a hand against him to do so. So instead he looked at her.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked.

"No," she said, tears starting to prick at her eyes. He reached toward her, one last try to feel the heart she claimed existed.

"I see," he said as his hand disintegrated before she could reach his. And finally he did, the heart didn't live inside of her. It was like she had infuriatingly told him, it lived in the reach of those who she gave hers to and only with them. It was in his hand now and he could feel it, even as he disappeared completely.

He leaned against the brick wall waiting for her. 'Where the hell is she? We're gonna miss homeroom, as usual. Should I buy her another alarm clock and tell her it's not a joke that she set it?" he thought as he adjusted his satchel on his shoulder again. Finally she tore around the corner with her skirt flapping dangerously high and her backpack threatening to open and spill all of its contents.

"Sorry!" she said catching her breath as she reached him. Orihime leaned against the wall and finished tying her bowtie as she did so, her blonde hair getting in her face and she blew it out with little thought to the glare he was aiming at her.

"My mom was late setting up for a party last night and I was trying to get as much sleep as possible, but I had a dream that trolls were trying to kill the nice aliens from Mars so you know I had to fight it out in my dream," she rambled putting herself to rights.

"Next time let them fend for themselves and get up a little earlier," he said watching her stuff her shirt into her skirt as neatly as she could.

"Oh Ulquiorra-kun, you know I can't let helpless aliens be beaten by the mean old trolls," she said hitching her socks up to her knees and smiling. "All ready now, let's go!" she said holding out her hand and he took it without hesitation. The contentment that settled over him every time she held his hand came full force and he forgot again that she almost made them late like he did every morning and listened to her ramble on in detail about her dream. As long as he got to keep holding her hand he was perfectly fine staying right there next to her, always.

AN: Alright, I love this, anyone else, show of hands by hitting the review button please. Oh if it's not clear, they were reincarnated, not going further.


	2. My Immortal

My immortal

Orihime sat on the edge of her bed in her ruined uniform the night of Ichigo's victory over Aizen and felt…nothing. It was strange, all she had wanted for months was Aizen to be stopped from hurting people she cared about and knew nothing about. Even when she hadn't known the town to be used for the Kings Key was Karakura she prayed for everyone's safety at night. Now however she was ambiguous to its survival, not happy or otherwise.

Laying back on her bed and looking at her ceiling dotted with glow in the dark stickers she had placed there years ago in the semblance of her friends she found herself wishing for one thing. To be looking up at the dark ceiling in her cell knowing that her keeper was just down the hall, alive and cynical as ever. She closed her eyes and imagined his face in every memory she had of him. From the first time he appeared in the park with Yammy, to inside the tunnel between the worlds, inside of her cell each day, and finally before his death. That made something hurt.

She rolled over and wondered why her pain was all for him, she had friends still alive and celebrating the little that could be celebrated. All she wanted was silence and solitude from them, the numbness she had covered with smiles and hugs to all of them had only dimmed back this pain a little, now it was hitting her full force the way it couldn't on top of the roof of Las Noches. Then her tears had been held back by the immediacy of Uryuu's inury and the confusion on Ichigo's face at the few tears that had been leaking through the wall she put up. Than it had been Rukia, Renji, and Chads questioning of her after IChigo disappeared for another fight with the ruler of Las Noches. She had forced herself not to think about it, feel it, or recognize it but all she had wanted at that point was to crawl onto the couch in Las Noches and bawl till she couldn't stop anymore, make herself feel all of her pain and deal with it. Not stuff it in a closet in her mind and lock it inside while the door rattled at how much pressure was trying to force it open.

Her tears came in a flood that left her pillow soak through on both sides and further ruined her uniform with wet splotches where she had tried to wipe them away without success. In her pain she didn't blame Ichigo for killing Ulquiorra who she was mourning, she mourning her own stupidity for giving away her heart to someone who hadn't recognized it till the end, that berated her intelligence, questioned her beliefs continually, and made her fall in love with him because of his thorough search through her soul for the heart that she talked about. She mourned never telling him, never saying anything as he looked at her from afar and her own stare back at him, never trying to make him realize his heart was there all along, she mourned knowing she loved another who yet again didn't love her back as she wanted him too.

Hours later her tears dried up but her body was sore from inactivity and oxygen deprivation when her sobs had been too loud and stole the air her body needed. She looked around her dark room and stared at her toys and colorful wallpaper she had put up to cheer the place up after her brother's death but it didn't cheer her now. The toys she had once collected in enthusiasm mocked her because she no longer looked at them the way she did before, his imprint on her soul was to leave her cynical and calculating about everything she did and had. In a fit of rage she stood up and toppled her shelves, found cracks in the wall paper and tore it off the walls until she collapsed on the floor dry heaving again.

Why did it feel like he was still here? Even when she had felt his spiritual pressure leave as his body till there was nothing but the ashes flying away in the air toward the desert and away from her. Was it her uniform, because he had complimented her in it with impassivity she thought was feigned at the moment? Was it her hand that just brushed his before it disintegrated away from her? What was it? It felt like his presence still surrounded her, his arms around her, when she had never felt the sensation during his life. Like he was holding her tenderly like she wished he would at times when her fears in Las Noches were realized. Finding his hands warm instead of the cold that she would imagine from the tone of his skin, feeling his breath against her neck when it wasn't necessary for him to breath as he once told her, or finding him looking peaceful as the time he fell asleep on her couch without realizing till she woke him accidentally. That brought another flood of tears she didn't think would come.

That was why she wanted to stay in Las Noches, because it was one of the only places she had ever felt his presence tangibly. Something she could hold onto and imagine smelling the peppermint shampoo she knew he used because he let her borrow it. Instead of here in her apartment where she didn't think he had ever been long enough to stamp himself there. In a place where he was completely unassociated except by her sorrow felt for him there. A warm place that she didn't want to be, where she wanted to be was cold, even in his presence or absence of it.

Without realizing it and unsurprised by her choice she found herself at Urahara's shop. She went inside to find Urahara there by himself as if he expected her there.

"I want to go back, for a little while at least," she whispered, scared her wish would be denied and break her heart further. However Urahara just nodded and lead her to the basement and to where he'd set up for the departure of Ichigo and the other's to save her.

"I can place you directly inside of Las Noches, where would you like to be?" he asked quietly, respectful of Orihime in her sorrow and not questioning it like her friends would have.

"My cell please," she said and the gap between her and where she wanted to be, needed to be, opened up.

"Ichigo should wake up in three days, everyone's worrying about him," Urahara commented. She nodded thinking that was about all the time she would need to grieve. "I'll reopen this then won't I?"

"Yes please," she said before entering. It closed behind her as she made her own path towards Las Noches. Shaky but smooth she walked till she arrived in her room.

Dirty and wrecked as her room was she sat on the couch, then lay down and slept deeply and with only peaceful dreams of Ulquiorra until she woke up suddenly. A strong but faltering spiritual pressure was approaching her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and waited to know if it was friend or foe. When she saw Grimmjow slump down against the doorway and down to the floor with a grunt she had a moment of pity for him, before she remembered he was ruthless enough to make her bring someone back just to try and kill them. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door before laughing.

"May I come in?" he asked still chuckling. "Damn pain is fucking with my sense of humor."

"Do you want me to heal you?" she asked approaching him slowly, weak as he was she knew predators were the most dangerous when threatened and she didn't want to do anything to jeapordize her safety. She was depressed, not suicidal.

"Why the hell do you think I dragged myself here from out in the desert? For kicks? Just hurry the hell up, I can't see very well, hard to tell where you are when it's this dark."

"If I do so will you promise not to go after anyone else?" she asked. He was silent a moment before chuckling.

"I see Ulquiorra rubbed off on you a little, you'd of done this for free before," he said before coughing. "Yeah, yeah, I promise not to go after anyone else. Live out the rest of my miserable life here," he said sounding depressed about the thought.

"Alright than," she said summoning her healing shield and working on reversing his injuries, as much damage as Ichigo did to Grimmjow it didn't take very long to reverse it. By the time she was done Grimmjow was focused on her face and looking at her blankly for a while as he sat back against the door. She stood and his eyes followed her as she went back to the couch and clutched the pillow that had just a hint of Ulquiorra's scent still on it.

"I can't believe you miss that jackass," he said quietly as he stood and stretched. He looked down the hall and silently looked for threats in the area and found it completely silent. It seemed the arrancars weren't faithful to a missing king and left for greener sands. "If you want any of his crap his rooms down the hallway, third door on the right."

Then he disappeared and she could find no trace of him. She felt that his promise had been true and he wouldn't harm anyone else now, or go after Ichigo for another fight that he could no longer do. Maybe he would start his own pack again and just wander the desert looking for fights elsewhere. 'Didn't seem like he'd have a reason to stay' she thought as she clutched the pillow tighter to herself. The smell was fading away the longer she held it and his words came back to her, _'If you want any of his crap his rooms down the hallway, third door on the right'. _

Putting the pillow back on the couch she stood up and left her cell slowly. She'd never been to his room, hadn't known where it was before today. She had absently noted where his spiritual pressure was every once in a while but never pinned down a certain location he spent for extended periods of time. When she opened the door to his room it was utilitarian to the floor and appeared completely unlived in an untouched, she felt sad again as she thought he had nothing to decorate or think worthy of cluttering his room up with. That however made her remember the destruction of her own apartment and promised herself she would put everything back the way it was, except the wallpaper, she would put up another color.

Shaking her head she walked in and sat on the edge of his bed, making a wave of his scent rise off of his comforter and shocking her more than the single pillow had. Along with the wave came another one of agony through her as she realized that it wouldn't last, just like him it would fade away till she had nothing left but memories. She held it back though; she had learned when her brother died that death was inevitable. No one she loved would be there forever but it still hurt like hell for her when they left, the little time she let herself grieve over Ulquiorra's death didn't compare to the year and a half that she spent missing her brother, but it felt like all that grief she had spread out then was being forced into the small space she allowed herself now.

So when she woke up again, tired and cold from where her tears had soaked into her clothes and stole her warmth she was confused about where she was until his scent came back and comforted her again. She hadn't remembered the dreams she had when she was alone in her apartment but she did remember they had been unpleasant, but here in his bed she had dreamed nothing frightening and left her warm where they had left her cold and alone.

Due to her long imprisonment she could instinctively tell that it was somewhere between too early to be up and just late enough she wouldn't pass out in the afternoon from exhaustion if she did something. Sitting up and against his headboard she looked around his room. She finally noticed small things that weren't necessary to his room. A journal he left open on his desk, a small collection of books on it as well that looked like he read them often, smooth rocks piled on the edge, and a small bonsai plant that looked well cared for. Coming closer and looking at the titles she saw the names of famous authors but wasn't completely sure what they were because her English wasn't perfect and they looked American or British to her.

Deciding to find something to eat and later come back or just wander around she left his room but kept its location in the back of her head as she searched for the kitchen, she was sure that there were at least two, Aizen's personal kitchen and the ordinary one she was sure Ulquiorra got her food from. Opening doors at random and looking in gave her a good idea of what each general area was for. Surprisingly her area was pretty deserted, she was the only room except for the ones between her and Ulquiorra's for a while, which made her think that she had been put out of the way and left in Ulquiorra's range for convience. Soon she found closets with clothes, cleaning products, personal care items by the dozen, and finally a huge kitchen still stocked with everything she would need to cook herself something to eat. After making herself a sandwich with tomatoes, pickles, and bacon she started heading for familiar places.

First up was the throne room. As much as she had feared Aizen she pitied him more, no matter how great he thought he was she saw he was alone, and that had made him how he was. He had used all the arrancars for a flaw or want that they had in their life that being hollow only intensified, made them follow him thinking it would be fulfilled when his goals were. Which made her question what Ulquiorra had wanted or needed to confirm that would make him follow Aizen, or was it simply he had nothing to do and followed because he thought Aizen was logical and could accomplish it on that logic. She sighed as she thought she'd never be able to ask him that herself.

Second was the roof, she didn't want to go, it had only happened two days ago almost. She knew all of him would be scattered by now, nothing left for her to grab hold of and insanely try to bring back. She knew that no matter how long she screamed for him he wouldn't come back like Ichigo would, he would ignore her because it wasn't right for him to, even if he could. She went because she thought it would help her let go a bit more, appreciate that she was still alive, feel something more than grief again. Time passed and she had no idea how long she stayed there staring aimlessly at the spot where he had vanished, but once she stood up she felt come of it heal. Coming back after her shock had worn off was good for her, it made her look at it in the right light and without the sorrow that had clouded her feelings over it.

Third was Stark's room, weird because she'd been there only a few times. Been dragged more like by the smaller less active part of his soul that split off, all to eager to tell her their back story. It had made her so sad thinking about his and Liliynette's loneliness for years, just wanting someone else to be there. That they had been there for companionship made her wonder how long they had wandered before and what had made them a hollow in the first place, or was the soul in control just that wretched in it's loneliness. Thinking of his pain made her's lighter, knowing someone suffered more than her made her appreciate his more and focus less on her own.

By the time she got back to Ulquiorra's room (she knew she couldn't stay in her room anymore now) she was tired but healed at least enough not to burst into tears at the thought or slightest mention of him in the future (not that she thought anyone would in the future, they wouldn't care like she did). Pulling back his blanket and kicking off her boots she slipped under his covers and took in a deep breath of his scent before she drifted to sleep almost instantly.

She was sure that she was still dreaming when she felt a dip in the bed across from her and opened her eyes to find Ulquiorra lying across from her and looking almost amused at the tears appearing in her eyes. She reached out to touch him but her fingers drifted through him and she felt nothing, which made her tears fall so much harder than before.

"What a cruel dream. All I think of is you but I can't even feel you in it," she said dropping her arm to the bed and sobbing steadily.

"Silly woman, this is a dream and I no longer have a physical form, how could you feel me without one?" he asked looking quite comfortable questioning her intelligence.

"This is my dream, I should be able to do what I want in it," she said stubbornly stopping her tears for another try at touching him. Her hand went through his again and he sighed as her tears resurfaced again.

"I didn't come to see you cry woman, I saw enough of that when I was alive, it doesn't entertain me in death," he said softly and that served to calm her more than he anticipated. It had stirred her curiousity.

"Then why are you here?" she asked wiping her tears away.

"Because I can no longer linger here, watching you suffer like this over me. It's completely unacceptable," he said sternly.

"I wasn't going to cry for much longer," she murmured.

"I cannot read your mind woman, I assumed you would keep crying like you had for Kurosaki when it appeared futile. And I have only one more thing to say. Don't stop living for this life when you know there will be another in the future," he said leaning closer toward her. "This one was corrupted but the next will be perfect, however you still have this one to complete. So no rushing or deciding things yourself that have precede over whether you live or not, let everything take it's natural course and be patient."

"So you want me to live my life ," she said waiting for his nod, "But you already know about the next one. Does it involve you? I know I wanted five with Kurosaki-kun, but I'd rather have one with you now, just to make up for this one."

"You will have it with me woman, whether we are friends or lovers is up to the decisions to events in it, but know I'll always be waiting for you," he said ghosting his hand over hers and she imagined she almost felt it.

"Promise?" she whispered.

"I do not lie Orihime, if I say it, it will happen," he promised. She finally smiled for the first time in days, even as a few tears came again.

"Then I promise I'll always know you, wherever or whenever we meet, I'll know you," she said turning her palm up to reciprocate his almost touch.

"No more crying Orihime, I'll be gone now, but there's no need for tears," he said slowly fading away. With every little bit of him that disappeared her eyes grew heavier till she woke from her dream to reality. Her sadness was gone, and the little bit of him that she felt was gone as well. She almost cried at the loss till she remembered he said no more crying. If he wanted it, then she'd give it to him.

Straightening up his room, putting everything back to rights, stealing three bottles of his shampoo, his books, and his bonsai tree she left his room and went back to her own. Leaving her souvenirs in her room she tracked her way back to the kitchen and encountered Grimmjow again. He seemed to be waiting for her because from his perch on the counter he turned to look at her expectantly.

"Felt him last night, did you bring him back?" he asked. She shook her head and he shrugged. He looked at the floor and sighed.

"Lucky bastard," he muttered climbing off the counter and approaching her. "Know any shinigami willing to fight me?"

"After everything that's happened, I don't think so, unless you attacked them," she said quietly. He nodded and left the room. Looking back once he waved.

"See you princess," he called.

"Bye Grimmjow," she said waving back as well, knowing the portal he was opening was leading to

Soul Society, and she was never going to see him now again. Making herself something simple to eat after waiting a minute before he was gone and then going back to her room made time fly by faster than she thought it would.

After hours of silence and clutching Ulquiorra's books with all her might the portal in her room opened again. Yoriuichi was waiting there on the other side for her and helped her carry the few things that she was taking with her. When Urahara handed her a burlap bag to carry it all she smiled again, her sadness fading with every passing minute. The thought of Ulquiorra no longer made her sorrowful, it made her happy and excited for things to come. Now she knew that she wasn't facing a life without him, just a short stop before spending a peaceful one with him in sometime in the future, forgetting this one and moving on without a care in the world.

Epilogue

Orihime was about six, playing in the sandbox making a lopsided castle with her older brother keeping an eye on her while trying not to blush next to his girlfriend. She had just managed to put up a tower with bars on the window when a shadow fell over it. Looking up her grey eyes met vivid green that inspected her castle intensely.

"It's crooked," he said simply.

"Well, I couldn't hold up the other side while I was smoothing it out on this one. Want to help me?" she asked. He waited a second before shrugging and sitting across from her. He appeared startled when she smiled brightly at him.

"Thank you. My names' Orihime Nazuka, what's yours?" she asked reaching out to give him her sand shovel.

"Ulquiorra Jingo, nice to meet you," he said taking the shovel and then shaking her hand. Their little fingers curled around each other's and warmth spread out in both directions, promises being kept complete and in progress. Her smile grew again as his started to form.

"Let's be friends, okay?" she said sweetly.

"Forever?" he asked. She nodded her blonde head and he nodded his brown one back at her before turning their attention back to the sand castle. Never noticing that they ended up sitting hip to hip by the time they were finished.

**AN:**R&R


	3. The Middle

The Middle

Ulquiorra was going to kill Grimmjow, as soon as he found him. It was Friday and the only thing he had planned on doing was watching prerecorded episodes of Doctor Who and help himself to all the snacks he denied himself during the week. That was till his annoying neighbor came over and dragged him here promising they wouldn't stay longer than five minutes and a snack. Well Ulquiorra had half a bowl of chips waiting for Grimmjow to come back and three sodas and now he was pissed. Simple as his plans had been they were his routine damn it! And his routine was important to him.

No one was approaching him and he didn't particularly care to approach any of them. Everyone that saw him that knew him just a little turned in the other direction quickly at his glare. Even the host Rukia when she saw him left with her boyfriend for another room without saying anything. Fine, that's the last time he helps her with math in tutoring lab.

People kept jostling him around the house as he searched for Grimmjow but every time it seemed like he spotted cerulean blue hair they forced him to another part of the house and when he fought his way back all traces of the menace would be gone again. He was tired of the blaring music and smell of sweaty bodies in tight enclosed spaces. He eventually fought his way to the back door and escaped to the small garden behind the house.

He took a seat and didn't immediately notice the presence next to him until he heard a small sigh that startled him as bad as if she had hit symbols together. He looked over and recognized the glowing orange hair sitting half behind a hibiscus bush out of sight. She looked balefully at the house before she sighed again.

"Orihime Inoue," he said and her head shot up.

"Ulquiorra-san, I'm sorry I didn't see you there," she said smiling slightly. His class rep looked about as happy to be there as he was, the idea intrigued him, he thought she'd be the type and enjoyed it.

"Are you hiding from the bedlam as well?" he asked.

"Yeah, I thought it was going to be smaller. It started out as a birthday party for Rukia-chan but I think Renji called more people over and it got like that. It's not really my type of party," she said frowning at the house before adjusting on her seat so she faced him better. "I would think this wasn't your type of party either."

"It's not, Grimmjow dragged me here," he said and thought 'I'll drag him to his grave and cover him with Star Trek memorabilia, that'll teach him.'

"I wanted to watch Heroes tonight with Tatski but she's in there too with Uryuu, looks like I lost my sci-fi partner," she said looking forlorn at the thought.

"You like Heroes? Who's your favorite character?" he asked intrigued.

"Hiro Nakumura of course," she smiled.

"I like Peter Petrelli better," he answered. They got into an argument about other characters and eventually other shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Doctor Who, Lost, and a mess of others till the party spilled out to the garden and they were forced closer so they could hear each other. Eventually it got too loud for them to hear each other and Ulquiorra took her hand and walked out of the garden and through to the front door. Intent on continuing their discussion he didn't even notice Grimmjow sucking face with Neliel by the door and Orihime didn't see Tatski waving at her from the living room. Once they were back in a semi quiet environment he turned to her again and found her smiling brightly.

"This is the most fun I've had in months, Tatski doesn't like nearly as much of what I do as you do," she smiled. Then he remembered why he had never had a discussion like the one they had before, because of her bright and happy personality he had thought she fit in the pretty girl stereotype where her biggest wish was her shoes to match her outfit. Now in some light he saw she was wearing a Full Metal Alchemist shirt with the human transmutation circle on it and a crazy looking skirt and flip flops. Where she looked put together and neat in her uniform her geeky-ness shown through her clothes now.

"Me too," he answered finally as all of that flew through his head. He looked back at the party and again at her. "Want to ditch this and watch Doctor Who with me?"

"Yeah!" she said pulling out her phone and texting a message to Tatski not to worry about her as Ulquiorra pulled out his own to text Grimmjow.

'You're an ass! But thanks.' He put his phone up and took her hand again. She squeezed his back and walked side by side with him away from the party behind them toward their own private one that interested each of them much more than the one behind them.

AN: My interpretation of the song into Ulqiuhime, review please!


	4. 1,2,3,4

Don't own Bleach or Care Bears.

1,2,3,4

Ulquiorra stood outside of her door nervously. It was two in the morning, his palms were sweaty, and he actually considered biting his lip to relieve some of his tension if just for a moment. He stepped back and started pacing trying to reevaluate why he was there in the first place if he would just end up a mess outside of her house and unable to choke up what he wanted to say. It was just three little words, she said them often enough to people that she knew whereas he said it only to his mother and less often his father because that was awkward.

He wanted to say it because she was important for one reason. He'd never met anyone else that could make him smile so easily. Almost easy as breathing to be near her and soak up the happiness she radiated constantly. He loved the ridiculous green cookies she made for him on Day each year with a poorly drawn leprechaun on each because he knew it took her hours and she did it without a thought to the effort she was putting in for something he might not eat. He loved the way she hit Grimmjow when he threatened to give him a wedgie and cow Ichigo into not bothering him with stupid questions by making him feel guilty about asking them in the first place. He wanted to wake up and walk the ten blocks in the morning to her houses just so he could share her hot chocolate and smile before the day began. He liked whispering with her on the school roof about things that she didn't tell her friends. He loved watching fireworks light up her face completely. The most important reason was that when she looked at him he felt like they were the only two people in the world and that all of her was for him just as much as all of him was for her.

Now he was standing on her porch like a dewb and hesitating from saying the words that she said with so little hesitance and all the real emotion behind it on a daily basis. Wait? Why was he on her porch anyway, her brother would answer the door at this time of night and kick his ass for disturbing them. He jumped off and around to her side of the small house and peeked into her bedroom. He rationalized he wanted to make sure she was there, even though he had texted her before she'd gone to sleep and definitely knew she was there.

There she was, in her ridiculously long Care Bear sleep shirt hugging a hand sew teddy bear with his face on the fabric on both sides of the head. He had a matching one at home with her face sitting on his shelf that she'd given him a year before but now that she saw how she cuddled with it so tightly on her bed he had the courage to say what he came to say that had been nagging him for days now.

Tapping on her window caused her to stir and look drowsily at her window as she sat up. Seeing him standing there she rubbed her eyes twice to make certain that she wasn't dreaming before she got up and opened her window quietly.

"What are you doing here? Are aliens invading?" she asked looking up at the sky before looking back at his face.

"No, is that what you were dreaming of?" he asked.

"Nah, I was dreaming Kurosaki-kun was a ballerina and Rukia-chan was a cowboy," she said yawning. "So why are you here again?"

"I came to say something to you," he said dryly swallowing as he looked up at her slightly. Her hair was everywhere without her clips holding it back and the dark just highlighted her features and brilliant hair. "Um, Iloveyou."

"What?" she asked leaning further out her window to hear him better.

"I said I love you," he said feeling mortified that he was blushing and as he watched her she started blushing as well. For a second he was worried till both her hands pulled him up and kissed him solidly back for a second before pulling back and smiling at him.

"You didn't have to come here now and tell me, I already knew that," she said crossing her arms and looking at him from her window sill.

"You did?" he asked astonished.

"Of course, no one else bakes me organic brownies with chocolate chunks in it like you do when I'm sick. I even faked a few times to get more," she giggled. "Or willingly plays the knight in the school play to save me from dragons though you have no acting skills whatsoever. And waits for hours in line with me for books he thinks are ridiculous. I didn't need you to tell me, you show me all the time."

"Hm, then I guess I already knew you loved me than as well," he said watching her smile understandingly.

"And now it's back to dreamland, tomorrows an important day remember, you weren't even supposed to be here," she said sternly but mockingly at the same time.

"You know I don't believe in such silly supersitions, I would marry you now though if it makes you feel better," he said smiling slightly.

"No, just go home and don't get cold feet on me, I'd have to get Tatski to track you down," she smiled back as she reached for the window.

"Never, not with you Orihime," he said softly, she blushed again and winked before closing her window and climbing back in bed. He waited for her last wave before heading back to his apartment, later couldn't come any sooner.

AN: I don't know about this one, review please. Song was 1,2,3,4 by the Plain White T's.


	5. Teenage Dream

Teenage Dream

**Warning: mention of lemon, nothing too explicit though. I changed the rating accordingly.**

Orihime looked up at the sky and smiled happily. The day was slowly turning away from overcast and the wind was blowing away the red ribbon she'd wrapped around the Valentine's Day candy she'd made but she couldn't be happier. Her hand was curled tightly around the paler fingers of the most incredibly sweet boy she'd ever met.

Despite the weather, the bad location, and semi disasters that had been happening since earlier that morning he'd made the day perfect.

That morning he'd shown up at her apartment at six in the morning before she was properly awake and ready to face him. No makeup, her shirt buttoned wrong, and wearing shoes on the wrong feet in her haste he still lit up only the way he did when he saw her and that made her feel more beautiful than spending five hours in front of a mirror on prom night the year before. He'd told her too, in so few words but she still knew exactly what he meant.

On the way to his proposed picnic spot his car had gotten a flat tire and radiator leak within minutes of each other but the entire time he'd let her pick music on his Ipod and help where she could. Stolen kisses under the hood of his car made her tingle from head to toe and attack him ferociously when he started pulling away. After five minutes and a few missing buttons he'd forcibly removed himself from her and finished fixing the problem and opened her car door for her.

When they'd arrived earlier the sky had been an endless clear blue that reflected her hair pins perfectly. He'd found the perfect spot on a hill overlooking the valley below them and set up everything without allowing her to lift a finger to help him. She'd shyly handed over her candy and he'd given her favorite to her, chocolate covered jalapeños with red bean paste stuffed inside. He made it even better when he took a bite from one and conceded that it was unique before sprinting for the woods to throw up out of hearing so she wouldn't feel completely horrible. When he came back he opened his chocolate and slowly eaten every piece while she watched.

"Want to try one?" he asked. She nodded and before she could reach into the box for the last one he popped it in his mouth chewed for a second then kissed her. Her tongue tasted the sweet sugar on his lips and his tongue as he proceeded to share like he intended. By the time she'd swallowed she had tackled him to the blanket and tried to start disrobing. His hands stilled hers and his eyes met hers with endless patience as he looked at her.

"Are you sure Orihime? We can still wait," he said and for one second she could see how much he loved her warring with how much he wanted her. It made her all the more certain that it was what she wanted.

"I want you to be my teenage dream, for now and ever," she said softly. She kissed him slowly and let him take his time, knowing that he wanted to remember every moment and play each one out the way he'd always wanted too.

By the time he'd wrapped them in the blanket and entered her, the rain had started. Neither of them stopped as the first drops fell. The water connecting them further and making her more determined than ever to let him in the way that she'd been hesitant to do for years. He was her perfect dream, and if what he told her every way he could, she was his too.

So later when the rain had ended and they were laying side by side and watched the clouds roll away she wasn't surprised by his question.

"Will you marry me Orihime?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," she said clutching his hand she was holding even tighter.

He rolled over reached for his jeans, pulling a small ring box from his back pocket he opened it, took out the ring and slipped it on without preamble. She lifted her hand to look at it and smiled, no diamond, just two strands of silver circling each other five times in the infinity symbol, just the way she wanted it.

"Couldn't find one with more lifetimes huh?" she smiled.

"I'll give you one every lifetime if you want, that should make it last forever," he said smiling slightly.

"That works," she said rolling over till her head was on his shoulder. She closed her eyes, but didn't dream. 'Who needed it?' she thought, there was nothing more she needed than him and their future together.


	6. I Found a Boy

I Found a Boy

Orihime hummed in her kitchen happily as she made dinner for her and Ulquiorra. He had texted he might be a little late but she could keep it warm until he got there. She was wondering if he'd mind if she put red bean paste in his half of the chicken ramen when the doorbell rang.

Orihime was smiling until she opened the door and saw who was standing there. Aizen Souskue was standing there in all his heartbreaking glory as she stood there speechless for a moment before she smiled softly.

"Hello Souskue," she said.

"Orihime, lovely as always," he said smiling. He leaned against the door frame and poured out so much charm it was almost suffocating. "Can I come in?"

Orihime looked at the clock on the wall of the hallway and back at him.

"I have a few minutes I can give you, sure," she said standing back. He walked in and to the living room with sure steps as she followed him. "Give me a minute in the kitchen and I'll be back."

Orihime turned the food down and stirred it before going to the living room. He was sitting on the loveseat obviously anticipating her sitting next to him when she took the reading chair across from him. His eyes flickered from her face to a picture behind her that she knew was a picture of her and Ulquiorra a few months before at the Tanabata festival in Karakura. It was one of the few that her friends had caught of him looking at her like he did when they were alone. Happy and smiling, instead of his usual detached nature from everything around them.

"You look great Orihime. How's school going?" he said smiling.

"Thanks, and school is going fine. I'm not top of my class but top five's not too shady," she laughed.

"So better than last year," he said. She was silent for a second before nodding.

"It helps when your boyfriends kind of a genius. He knows how to break down everything that confused me, so the classes I did bad in I retook and excelled. All because of him," she said smiling just as brightly as he was. His fell a little.

"So where is he? I heard the guys kind of a work-a-holic," he laughed.

"Oh he's almost off. He should be home soon. He always tries to make it back before dark," she said. Her smile went soft as she quieted, thinking about Ulquiorra. Aizen's disappeared at her expression.

"So…You really like him Orihime," he said.

"Yes, I didn't think we would at first. He was so quiet and I thought I was getting on his nerves at first when I tried to talk to him. Eventually though we found things we both liked and he talked back, even if it wasn't for long at first. We've been together for so long though now I don't know how we fit together at first but we do. I like everything about him now," she said going on her happy rant without noticing Aizen's slight scowl.

"As happy as you were with me?" he asked. She sort of froze and looked off without answering him. He waited patiently before she looked back at him.

"The situations are incomparable. Trying to would only result in one of us getting hurt," she said softly.

"Orihime. I know I waited too long. I was stupid. I didn't know leaving you would make me feel this way. Compare them. I know you would want me again."

"Souskue. Why are you doing this? We weren't good for each other. Our goals were always clashing against each others, we couldn't have worked at all. Everything fell apart and you couldn't take it. I'm happy again, why are you here trying to mess with that?"

"Because I still love you," he said. He got up and kneeled before her. He took her hands and clutched them. "I want you back with me. We had passion, I didn't hear you say you had that with him. We can have that again."

"It's all we had Souskue. Everything else we had to force. I can tell you something I have with him that I don't have with you. Love, true love. The kind I would die for," she said pushing his hands away from her and stood up. "Something I realized after I felt it with him that I never had with you, not really."

"I love her as well. I'm also very possessive, so I must insist you move away from my fiancé before I take action," Ulquiorra said suddenly from behind them.

Orihime turned towards him and the look on her face defeated the last bit of hope to dissuade her from Ulquiorra. The look of pure and ever devoted love was never one he'd seen in his direction before. He knew she was right, he'd only tried because of his jealousy. He watched as they walked toward each other as if the space between them was in the way and separation not an option. For a second he saw the look returned to Orihime when their hands met before a cold look of dismissal was pointed in his way.

"You are no longer welcome in our home Aizen Souskue. Orihime is mine and I intend to keep her for as long as she allows me," Ulquiorra said. Orihime squeezed his hand in a silent signal she was never letting him go either.

Aizen stood and half smiled. He looked at them silently before he moved towards the door. When he reached it he turned and smiled in a way that sent a chill down Orihime's spine.

"I wish you happiness…as long as it lasts," he said before he opened the door and left.

Ulquiorra nudged her a little.

"Don't worry about him. He's just a puff of hot air trying to get what others want," he said.

"I'm not worried about him," she said looking at him.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you more," she said.

"Prove it, I need scientific proof that your love for me is greater than mine."

"I didn't put red bean paste in the chicken ramen without your permission first," she said teasingly.

"Ah, edible food, your love is greater than mine," he said before she hit him playfully. Then he turned serious and took her hands in his. "I was serious before though Orihime, your mine. Even if we haven't cemented it in marriage yet."

"I'm yours and you are just as much mine. Until death do us part," she said.

"Now let's go prove him wrong about the passion part, I think I have that area covered," he said.

AN: This is a two parter, unfortunately part two isn't happy so if you want to stop here and not read the next part it's understandable.


	7. If It Hadn't Been For Love

If It Hadn't Been For Love

Orihime sat in the dark room from one of her best friends, Ichigo Kurosaki. He wasn't scowling at the moment thought. He was staring dumbfoundly at her and the file before him.

"I don't understand Inoue-" he started.

"My name is Schiffer now," she mumbled.

"I just don't get it. I understand your grieving, but to do this with no real evidence," he stopped to look at the crime scene photos again.

"If you're done Kurosaki-kun I'm ready to confess and waive my right to an attorney."

"Are you sure? Nothing you say can be taken back. They'll crucify you."

"I have no reason to run from this. I know what I did was wrong."

"Orihime, please get an attorney," he begged. Orihime turned toward the one way mirror.

"If he's too emotionally attached to a case he shouldn't be supervising it. Get me a different detective," she said toward it.

"Orihime, God damnit they won't go easy on you-," he started when she whipped her head to glare at him.

"Ichigo, I understand the situation and the conclusions that will come from what I have to say. If you can't sit down, listen to me and process it than I need someone else in here," she said calmly. He slammed back into his seat and turned on the camcorder.

"This is Ichigo Kurosaki, interviewing Orihime Inoue-Schiffer on December 27th of this year. This is her confession of the murder of Aizen Souskue, and assault with a deadly weapon of Gin Ichimaru at Aizens home earlier in the same day. Alright Orihime, why don't you start at the beginning. Why did you kill Aizen?"

"My husband of only six months Ulquiorra Schiffer was killed on a hit put out by Aizen a week ago." She stopped to catch her tears, she couldn't break down at the beginning.

"Orihime I told you I was looking into it-," he started.

"You weren't looking where I told you!"

"Because for all the elements it looked like a robbery, you were there."

"I know I was, and I'd think the same if I hadn't known better. Let me keep going Ichigo."

"Go on Orihime," he said sounding defeated.

"A few days ago at his funeral, Aizen showed up. He acted sympathetic to my loss but I just kept getting the feeling that he was just playing it. Like so many times before he wasn't feeling it, just pretending too. He made me uncomfortable at the wake later when he caught me alone and said when I was ready he'd 'comfort' me. I couldn't comprehend his audacity to do that when I had just buried my husband, I wanted to hit him then and there but I couldn't make myself move."

She paused and wiped her eyes again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment to picture her husband. Quiet, intelligent, wonderful Ulquiorra, who hardly ever smiled and always had one for her when she needed it most. She missed him more than she could bear but she did the one thing that made her pain just a little less.

"He asked me to come over to his house this morning to make sure I eat something. I thought it was understandable. I need too but only when I really have to now. When I got there his friend Gin was there. I've never really trusted him and when I walked in I heard them talking. Aizen was mad because Gin hadn't gotten rid of someone, I was about to leave when I heard him say Ulquiorra's murderer couldn't be found to trace back to him. I started carrying the knife around that Ulquiorra taught me how to use to protect myself and went in after turning on my recorder on my phone."

She stopped again to take a deep breath before she looked at Ichigo. "He was so surprised to see me so soon when I said I'd be there later. He tried playing it off when I told him I heard him. I might not have been thinking completely rationally when I did it but I took out my knife and stabbed Gin first when he tried to stop me from stabbing Aizen. He went down and Aizen tried to grab me but I got him in the neck enough to make him let me go. I wanted him to hurt as much as I had, as much as Ulquiorra on that pavement while I tried to get help for him that never came in time. I counted the stabs I made until I reached seven and told him that was for the week I had already suffered and that anything else would be too much unless I kept him somewhere and stabbed him for every following day of pain I feel. I watched him die and plead for help without caring."

"Where's your phone now Orihime?" Ichigo asked.

"In my coat, they took it in for evidence."

"Orihime, why'd you do it? Especially now. You could have gone into labor early," he said. She sighed and rubbed her protruding stomach gently.

"I can't bring part of him into the world knowing that his father's murderer still lived. How would I tell him that I knew and did nothing. That would be unforgiveable Ichigo," she said. "My brother came by earlier, he'll take care of my baby when he's born."

"Orihime, you could have come to me. I would have arrested him, you could have taped it as evidence and put him in jail for it."

"I didn't want to take the chance Ichigo. And this way I know he's lying still," she said coldly.

AN: Like I said not a happy chapter. Review if you wish, I understand if you don't.


	8. Payphone

Payphone

Ulquiorra stood under the awning at the rundown gas station that for some miraculous reason was still open at 3:42 in the morning. The rain poured down hard in the dark and splashed him even though he was pressed against the wall of the store. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at it for a while thinking hard. He had two choices, stay miserable or give in to her at last.

Orihime's smile haunted him, as well as his tears when he told her he didn't want to stay with her once Aizen was gone. His only purpose in staying with her after deserting was making sure that she wasn't retaken, not being her knight forever. Kurosaki could take that job back; he knew how Orihime felt about the shinigami before he'd taken her. It was irrevalent if he had obtained any feelings for the woman, there were no fairy tales where hollows married princesses and rode off into the sunset on black horses.

Living with her had been fine at first. She'd gotten back into her routine of being sunshine and healing in her group, despite his constant presence at her side. Kurosaki had perceived him as a threat whether he had abandoned Aizen and brought her back or not. His response had been if no one could watch her close enough to allow him to kidnap her in the first place than the likely hood of it happening again was almost certain. Orihime had prevented the fight that would have broken out by trapping Kurosaki and telling him in no uncertain terms that he was staying or she was leaving with him. The shock had kept Kurosaki from talking to both of them for a week, then only speaking when absolutely necessary and scowling at Ulquiorra the rest of the time.

The only one besides Orihime happy with his presence was that irritating scientist Urahara. He had Ulquiorra tell him all of Aizen's plans that he knew of and strategies he might have in place if it looked like he was losing. Aizen didn't have any backup plan however when Urahara managed to create a barrier impossible for Aizen to maneuver around and got trapped inside of Hueco Mundo and forced to fight inside of Las Noches itself, destroying his holdings and most of his forces within hours with the help of Vizards, the captains, and Orihime to restore anyone that needed it while being protected by Ulquiorra.

Now after everything was over, there was no reason for him to go back to Hueco Mundo or stay with her. He thought that the feelings she had for Kurosaki would ignite again. The looks she'd given him were nothing, the long he saw was just an illusion he wished to see. The occasional brush of her hand against his didn't cause his nonexistent heart to beat. The longing he felt for her was a reaction to being in her presence too long, it would go away if he left her.

The note he left had been short and to the point. He wasn't coming back because there was nothing there he needed to stay for, even if there were things he wanted to stay for. She'd come in as he set it down on her kitchen table and asked him what was happening. With a blank face he told her though her tears had almost broken his will and then left, ignoring her calling him back.

Now he was standing there in the rain a week later feeling like an idiot for the first time in his long life as a hollow. He had answered the phone that Urahara had supplied him with to keep in touch with people that he might need to contact, including her, a small picture of her smiling popping up when her number was recognized. Without checking who was calling he'd answered and listened to the silence on the other end before he heard her whisper his name so heartbreakingly his knees quaked. She said nothing further but he knew speaking in his condition wouldn't help him so he'd ended the call unable to say anything.

That had been eight hours ago and his phone was dead since he'd kept his phone open and stared at her picture. Her number was memorized in his head though, a payphone next to him just waiting for the change in his pocket.

All he had to do now was make up his mind to call her back. Staying away would mean she might move on, with Kurosaki or someone else. Going back might not change anything, he'd follow her around longing to be closer and she would still just smile at him and nothing more. The sound in her voice though…he didn't believe he could mistake that for something it wasn't, she didn't have it in her to deceive maliciously. To protect someone's feelings sure, but to hurt him on purpose he didn't believe so.

He sighed before pushing the coins in his pocket and taking out enough change for a call. He pushed in the coins and then each number purposefully before listening to the ringtone. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"I love you," he said shortly.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I have never felt anything like this. I am miserable without being out of your presence for more than an hour, I can't find anything to occupy my mind for very long before I think of you, and I am willing to even eat your homemade sour ice cream if it means I can see you smile. I suppose this is love from the descriptions I have researched, I did not trust Urahara's description that love made one's eyes turn into hearts and everything would end well," he said feeling foolish as he rambled on. That was her job.

"Sounds like it. I love you too, but if you don't want to come back I can understand," she said quietly.

"I am hollow, I don't see how this would work despite our mutual feelings," he said. "You want children and I cannot give them to you in this form. You would have to give up a dream in order to be with me, and I would not take something you want away from you," he said.

"You already did, you went away though I thought we were making process. You weren't questioning my getting closer to you, you talk to my friends without insulting them anymore, and I loved just sitting on the couch with you reading quietly. Ulquiorra, I need you more than a dream. Mine have changed and now you're the only thing in them, please come back," she begged quietly.

Ulquiorra set the phone back in the cradle and walked away and into the rain. She didn't have to say anything else, he made up his mind the moment she said she loved him too. Taking three blocks and a flight of stairs he knocked on her door that she opened confusedly.

"I thought you'd be further away," she said.

"I could not force myself further than a block away without beginning to worry about you. Further would have made me have what you called a 'panic attack', you are so clumsy I could not help but imagine that you would slip on your silly shoes and dismember yourself if I was not nearby."

"I'm not that bad," she said blushing slightly. He smirked a little, he refused to smile completely. Her eyes lit up a little and she reached out to graze his hand.

"Come inside?" she asked.

"This won't be one of your silly love songs," he said quietly.

"No, but I don't need those either," she said pulling him inside.


	9. Happy

Orihime sat in the cafeteria with all of their friends and kept in the sigh that she wanted to let out. No one noticed that she wasn't smiling or paying attention to the conversations going on around her. Now her gaze went more often to the opposite side of the cafeteria reserved for the unfortunately less popular teens. She wanted to be on that side desperately.

This used to make her happy. Just being with all her friends and never worrying more than a few seconds about the empty feeling that would crop up when they couldn't distract her away from the loneliness that would crop up.

Now she knew what she wanted it. She wanted to be happy with the person that made her that way. This wasn't enough by itself anymore, the need for more was too pressing to ignore anymore.

Suddenly she stood up from the table and took a deep breath as she walked away from her friends. They weren't paying close attention until they saw the table she was heading for. Tatski's eyes widened as she saw her approach the table full of hoodlums and menaces. She almost stood up but Ichigo reached out and held her to the table.

"Wait and see before you start worrying," he said quietly.

Orihime could feel the stares of the entire cafeteria on her as she approached the table. She heard the whispers that would turn into rumors that would eventually become nothing. They may have influenced her once before but not now. Her status in the high school hierarchy may be plummeting but that didn't matter as she continued into unfamiliar territory. By the end of the year that people that mattered would still be with her and the ones that minded her choices would be gone.

She could feel when his eyes landed on her and the happy tingle spreading up her body through her spine. Those eyes could see everything and through her best masks completely without effort. She wanted to look at him with the same intensity without being questioned on her sanity by others. When she reached him turned to face her while his friends all sat around him silently watching the interaction questioningly.

"Hey," she said simply.

"Onna," he said with a teasing lilt that only her and his friends could hear.

"Since you said it was my decision to make I decided I don't care. I don't care what they think. I care about what I want. I want you, will you be mine?" she asked nervously.

"On one condition," he said resisting the urge to smile in response to hers.

"What?" she asked.

"That you be mine as well," he said.

"Silly Ulquiorra, I already was."

His friends snickered around him as he stood to face her completely. Then in front of the entire cafeteria she threw her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her hips to give them a kiss that no one would forget for the rest of their lives as the high school princess and the top outcast became more than acquaintances. Orihime was finally happy.

AN: Whoo, writers block destroyed. At least for this story, my others who knows.


End file.
